THURSDAY December 12, 2013
Area’s Finest
Inside Comment
Sneak a peek at All-Area boys soccer
Four Straight
Pearl Harbor survivor remembers ‘Lucky Lou’
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EN girls hammer Bruins in easy win
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Weather Partly cloudy, high 19. Low tonight 16. Warmer Friday, high near 30. Page A6 Serving Noble & LaGrange Counties
Kendallville, Indiana
GOOD MORNING Bixler Christmas drive-through runs through December KENDALLVILLE — The Community Christmas Greetings drive-through in Bixler Lake Park campground continues through December. The display is lit every night from 6-9 p.m. Refreshments will be served Friday and Saturday nights, and horsedrawn wagon rides will be available Saturday and Saturday, Dec. 21 and 22. Red bows for the Christmas Wish Tree in the display may be purchased from the Kendallville Do-It-Center and park office for $5 each. A holiday blessing or message may be written and the bow, can be attached to the tree. Proceeds support the Community Christmas Greeting project.
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Budget deal picks up support WASHINGTON (AP) — A newly minted budget deal to avert future government shutdowns gained important ground Wednesday among House Republicans who are more accustomed to brinkmanship than compromise, even though it would nudge federal deficits higher three years in a row. There was grumbling from opposite ends of the political spectrum — conservatives complaining about spending levels and liberal Democrats unhappy there would be no extension of an expiring program of benefits for the long-term unemployed. Yet other lawmakers, buffeted by criticism after last October’s
partial government shutdown, found plenty to like in the agreement and suggested it could lead to future cooperation. The plan was announced Tuesday evening by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and quickly endorsed by President Barack Obama. A House vote was expected as early as Thursday as lawmaker race to wrap up their work for the year. “A lot of folks will probably vote for it even though they would rather not support this type of legislation, but we have to get the spending issue completed so that there is some consistency in
Stutzman not happy with terms BY MATT GETTS mgetts@kpcmedia.com
WASHINGTON — As a budget hawk, U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Howe, says there is a lot not to like about the budget proposal he will be voting on today. It won’t shrink Stutzman the national debt, which stands at $17 trillion and
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counting, Stutzman said. The budget will cut $23 billion into the budget deficit over the next 10 years, but actually will increase the deficit in the short term. “It’s still way out of balance,” Stutzman said of government spending. On the upside, the proposal would provide a degree of certainty and stability. Those are the main issues Stutzman will be weighing before deciding how to cast SEE STUTZMAN, PAGE A6
SEE BUDGET, PAGE A6
Health numbers fall short
State law could derail lawsuit by wounded officer INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indianapolis police officer’s lawsuit against the original seller of a handgun later used to wound him might have to overcome a state law that gives gun sellers significant immunity. The lawsuit filed Tuesday in a Marion County court by the Washington-based Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence claims KS&E Sports of Indianapolis negligently sold the handgun used to shoot Officer Dwayne Runnels in 2011. Runnels was wounded in the leg during an exchange of gunfire in which Demetrious Martin was killed. Tarus Blackburn pleaded guilty to federal charges of illegally selling the weapon to Martin, who couldn’t legally possess a firearm because he was a convicted felon. The lawsuit claims Blackburn accompanied Martin to KS&E Sports in October 2011, bought a gun that Martin picked out and then sold it to Martin in the store’s parking lot. The lawsuit alleges the gun shop’s workers should have known Blackburn was making a “straw purchase” for Martin.
75 cents
CHAD KLINE
Shop with a Cop Noble County Sheriff’s Department deputy Jason Koontz, left, walks with a full cart of items with Jessica, 11, of Kendallville during the annual Noble County Shop with a Cop event at the Kendallville Walmart Tuesday night. Following the shopping
spree, the group was treated to a pizza party. Officers from every Noble County police agency took 22 children on the shopping trip, which began with a parade through downtown Kendallville.
Library pauses expansion effort BY DENNIS NARTKER dnartker@kpcmedia.com
KENDALLVILLE — The Kendallville Public Library’s board of trustees has temporarily stopped further action on its planned basement expansion until two issues with the basement area are resolved. Trustees have also hired an interim library director. Tuesday night, trustees agreed with board president Kem Prince’s recommendation to resolve the basement issues. The 8,600-square-foot area considered for development is currently used for storage and a staff work area,
even though it’s not heated and has no air conditioning. The basement has an ant infestation, Prince reported, with ants entering through the foundation. A vendor will be called in to locate and resolve the problem. The other issue is clutter. “We need to de-clutter before we do any work there,” Prince said. Trustees have hired Fort Wayne architectural firm MKM Architecture+Design to plan uses for 8,600 square feet of space in the lower level, which was left unfinished as a cost-saving measure when the library was completed in 2007. The project is expected to cost
approximately $500,000. The library has the funds and will not need a tax increase or loan. Trustees have said they hope the project can be completed next year for the library’s centennial celebration. The board appointed teen services manager Katie Mullins as the library’s interim director. Mullins has been with the library for six years. She has a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Saint Francis and a Masters of Library Science degree from Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis. SEE LIBRARY, PAGE A6
WASHINGTON (AP) — With time running short, the nation’s health care rolls still aren’t filling up fast enough. New signup numbers Wednesday showed progress for President Barack Obama’s health care law, but not enough to guarantee that Americans who want and need coverage by Jan. 1 will be able to get it. Crunch time is now, as people face a Dec. 23 deadline to sign up if they are to have coverage by New Year’s. That means more trouble for the White House, too, after months of repairing a dysfunctional enrollment website. Next year could start with a new round of political recriminations over the Affordable Care Act, “Obamacare” to its opponents. The Health and Human Services Department reported that 364,682 people had signed up for private coverage under the law as of Nov. 30. That is more than three times the October figure, but still less than one-third of the 1.2 million that officials had projected would enroll nationwide by the end of November. The administration’s overall goal was to sign up 7 million people by next March 31, when open enrollment ends. Secretary Kathleen Sebelius assured Congress on Wednesday that “we are seeing very, very positive trends” now that HealthCare.gov is working reasonably well. She also announced that she’d asked the department’s inspector general for an independent investigation into contracting and management factors that contributed to the technology failure. Yet the revamped federal website serving 36 states continues to have issues, and some states SEE HEALTH, PAGE A6
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Info • The News Sun P.O. Box 39, 102 N. Main St. Kendallville, IN 46755 Telephone: (260) 347-0400 Fax: (260) 347-2693 Classifieds: (toll free) (877) 791-7877 Circulation: (260) 347-0400 or (800) 717-4679
Index
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Classifieds.................................B6-B7 Life..................................................... A3 Obituaries......................................... A4 Opinion ............................................. A5 Sports.........................................B1-B3 Weather............................................ A6 TV/Comics .......................................B5 Vol. 104 No. 341
Moore honored as Sagamore of the Wabash BY DENNIS NARTKER dnartker@kpcmedia.com
KENDALLVILLE — With family members and city and county officials looking on, state Rep. David Ober, R-Albion, presented Don Moore Jr. with his father Don Moore’s Sagamore of the Wabash honor in a brief ceremony Wednesday at American Legion Post 86. “It’s amazes me how influential he was to everyone,” Moore Jr. said about his father. Don Moore died Jan. 13. He was one of the community’s most energetic supporters and the owner of radio station WAWK-FM The Hawk in Kendallville. Moore served as an Army intelligence analyst in the Vietnam War. He was an entrepreneur, operating Don Moore Productions and Minuteman Mowing Services. He served as Noble County Council president, Kendallville Chamber of Commerce president, Kendallville Downtown Business Association president and commander of American Legion Post 86. The Sagamore of the Wabash award is one of the most prestigious honors given by the office of Gov. Mike Pence. It recognizes SEE MOORE, PAGE A6
DENNIS NARTKER
In a ceremony Wednesday at American Legion Post 86 in Kendallville, state Rep. David Ober, R-Albion, announced the late Don Moore of Kendallville had been awarded the Sagamore of the Wabash by Gov. Mike Pence. Ober presented the honor to Don Moore Jr. From left are Noble
County Councilman Dr. Jerry Jansen, who was appointed to fill Moore’s unexpired term on the Noble County Council; Kendallville Mayor Suzanne Handshoe; Don Moore’s wife, Cindy; Don Moore Jr.; and Ober.